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Family.com Entertainment Television Review: Shuriken School

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Television Review: Shuriken School

Ninja students' adventures are a kick for kids.

By Emily Ashby

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Common Sense Rating: for ages 6+ Stars: 4 out of 5 (About Common Sense Ratings)

TV Rating: NR Genre: Children, Cartoons, & Animation

What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this cartoon series features racially and socio-economically diverse characters who treat each other and their elders with respect. Themes of friendship, loyalty, and teamwork dominate each episode, and the students are, for the most part, patient and diligent in their learning. The show includes facets of martial arts training -- including kicking, punching, and throwing ninja-specific objects -- but most one-on-one exchanges have very little contact and few end in visible injury (and any injuries that are incurred don't last long).

Families can talk about adjusting to a new school. How do you make friends? What can be frightening about a new place? Can changes like that also be exciting? Families also can discuss how Eizan and his friends solve problems. What was difficult about the challenge they faced? What skills did they use to conquer it? When have you taken on a challenge? Who helped you?

Ten-year-old Eizan Kaburagi (voiced by Nathan Kress) is in his first year at SHURIKEN SCHOOL. He and his classmates study hard, play harder, and once in a while engage in scuffles with kids from their rival school, Katana. What makes Shuriken School unique is that its students are aspiring ninjas -- none more so than Eizan, who would do anything to avoid making rice balls for a living like his father. He and his friends always find new adventures waiting at a school whose students specialize in vanishing, levitation, and employing disguises.

Shuriken School's combination of action, adventure, and martial arts is sure to please the under-10 crowd. The characters are relatable, and kids will find that many aspects of the students' school issues reflect their own. And the show's vibrant animation style is engaging and lots of fun to watch.

Parents will like the positive messages about friendship, teamwork, and perseverance that play an integral role throughout the series. On the whole, the kids are smart, hardworking, and courteous to others. They rely on each other's individual talents and their own intuition to solve mysteries and wage Ninjitsu battles with Katana students.

The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

and its sequels Jackie Chan Adventures
Final Fu
The Karate Kid

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